Christy Mathewson Biography

Christopher Mathewson was born on August 12, 1880, in Factoryville, Pennsylvania, to Gilbert B Mathewson and Minerva J Capwell. He had five younger siblings. His father was a Civil War veteran and a farmer.

He attended Keystone Preparatory Academy. A Bucknell University, he became the class president and a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.

In 1899, Mathewson signed a professional contract with Taunton, Massachusetts, of the New England League after his freshman year. Although his pitching failed to achieve mass admiration, it caught the attention of the manager of the Portland club, John Smith.

In between July and September of 1900, he played in six games and went 0-3 with a 5.08 ERA and the club gave him back to Norfolk. The Cincinnati Reds grabbed the Pennsylvanian pitcher, only to pass him to the Giants in return for Amos Rusie.

Mathewson was also playing football from 1898, on a professional level with the Greensburg Athletic Association. In 1902, he played in the first National Football League while also a member of the Giants. However, he stopped playing football in order to focus on baseball.

John McGraw became the fulltime manager of New York Giants in July 1903, and turned around the fortunes of Mathewson and the Giants. The team went from a 48-88 record in 1902, to an 84-55 record the next year.

His best year was 1908, with career highs in wins (37), games (56), innings (390.2) and shutouts (11), and he went 37-11 with a 1.43 ERA. He won the pitching Triple Crown for the second time and he averaged at less than one walk per nine innings.

The year 1909, saw him register his career-best ERA of 1.14 and he led the National League with 27 wins in 1910. He helped the Giants win three consecutive NL pennants from 1911 to 1913 and lead with ERA's of 1.99 and 2.06 in 1911 and 1913 respectively.

The Giants lost the 1911 and 1913 World Series to the Philadelphia Athletics and the 1912 World Series to the Boston Red Sox. He struggled with his form for the next few years and the Giants began descending in the rankings.

He retired in 1916, as a player and managed the Reds for the entire 1917 season and the first 118 games of 1918 before heading to France to captain the Chemical Warfare Division of the US Army in the First World War.

He was a member of the Giants’ team when they became the 'World Series' champion in 1905, and a four-time 'NL wins champion' in 1905, 1907, 1908 and 1913.

The Sporting News ranked him No. 7 on their 100 Greatest Baseball Players list in 1999, and ESPN ranked his 1905 World Series performance as the greatest playoff performance of all time.

Christy Mathewson is regarded as one of the greatest pitchers in the history of the game. Mathewson won 373 games and lost 188. His total wins (373) are still number one in the National League, tied with Grover Cleveland Alexander.

Christy Mathewson married Jane Stoughton in 1903. The couple was blessed with a baby boy Christopher Jr.

He accidently got exposed to Mustard Gas at the Army's Chemical Warfare Division in France in 1918 and developed tuberculosis. After fighting the disease for years, he succumbed to it on October 7, 1925, in Saranac Lake, NY and was buried at the Lewisburg Cemetery.

Mathewson was not only a baseball star but also a talented scholar, graduating from Bucknell University with a degree in mining engineering.

In addition to his baseball skills, Mathewson was an accomplished writer, publishing a series of articles on baseball strategy and tactics in the early 1900s.

Mathewson's sportsmanship and gentlemanly demeanor on and off the field earned him the nickname "The Christian Gentleman" among fans and peers.